Wire-bending tool



June 8, 1965 w. R. BREWER WIRE-BENDING TOOL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June21, 1963 INVENTOR. WILLIAM R- BREWER BY /a(7 2f ,/m/

June 8, 1965 w. R. BREWER WIRE-BENDING TOOL .2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June21, 19:53

INVENTOR.

WILLIAM R- BREWER BY f United States Patent 3,187,545 WIRE-BENDING TOOLWilliam R. Brewer, Beaver Falls, Pa., assignor to Armstrong CorkCompany, Lancaster, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed June 21,1963, Ser. No. 289,523 3 Claims. (Cl. 72-388) This invention relates toa hand tool for gauging the location of and making bends in wire, whichtool is adapted to be held and operated by one hand and comprises a pairof spaced-apart pivoted members having wire-holding and wire-bendingelements, adapted to be brought into operative relationship to performtheir intended function by a single action consisting of pressing thehandle portions of the pivoted members toward each other.

The tool of this invention is particularly adapted to be used in gaugingthe location of the bend and bending of wires used in the suspension ofcertain types of acoustical ceiling. It is common practice to suspendsuch acoustical or decorative ceilings beneath the existing structuralceiling or roof support. In the installation of these ceiling suspensionsystems, a plurality of wires are attached to an existing ceilingstructure or roof support and allowed to hang freely at predeterminedspaced intervals. A reticulated grid system comprising main runnets andcross runners is attached to the free ends of these suspended wires.Openings are provided in the runners to receive the free ends of thewires. In order to pass the wires through the openings it is necessaryto bend the wires at 90 angles at definite points so that thereticulated grid system will be suspended in a level arrangementregardless of irregularities in the structural ceiling or roofstructure.

Prior to this invention it was customary practice to bend the wire bygrasping it between the thumb and forefinger at the point judged to bethe place where the bend should be made. Then, linemans-type pliers werepositioned to this point by the free hand and by a holding and twistingmotion of the hand holding the pliers, the wire was bent at a 90 angle.One of the primary objects of the present invention is the provision ofa wire-bending hand tool which will enable the user to uniformlyreproduce L-shaped bends on a wire with a single movement of one hand.

Another object resides in the provision of a wirebending hand toolincluding an adjustable gauge means to determine the exact point wherethe wire should be bent in relation to the parts with which the wire isto be ultimately used.

A further object is the provision of a wire-gauging and bending handtool which is simple in construction, easily employed, and economical toproduce.

The above and other objects will appear more clearly from the followingdetailed description when taken in connection with accompanying drawingswhich illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is an isometric view showing the tool of this invention is itsopen postion with a wire in position to be bent shown in dotted lines;

FIGURE 2 is an isometric view showing the tool of this invention in itsgauging position on a main runner prior to bending of the Wire;

FIGURE 3 is an isometric view showing the tool of this invention in itsclosed position with the bent wire shown therein in dotted lines, and

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of the tool with the handles broken awayshowing the wire as it is positioned in the tool after being bent.

As shown in the drawings, the improved wire-bending 3,187,545 PatentedJune 8, 1965 and gauge tool comprises pivoted members 1 and 2 havinghead portions 3 and 4 and handle grip receiving extensions 5 and 6 towhich handle grips 7 and 8 are attached by means of rivets 9 and 9'.Members 1 and 2 are adapted to rotate around pivot stud 10 upon whichhead portions 3 and 4 are mounted and held in spaced relationship alongthe axis of the pivot stud 10 by a spacer 11. A gauge plate 12 isprovided on head portion 3 of member 1 by means of screws 13. (See FIG-URE 2.) Fitted in the recessed portion 14 of gauge plate 12 by means ofscrews 15 is a spacer 16. Carried in gauge plate 12 is a wire-receivingslot 17 positioned in alignment with a similar slot 18 in head portion 3of member 1. Head portion 4 of member 2 is formed with a wire-bendingsurface 19 and a cut-back portion 29 which is adapted to rest againststop pin 21 projecting from the lower left part of head portion 3 whenthe tool is held in open position by means of spring 22. When the toolis in its open position, as shown in FIG- URES 1 and 2, wire-bendingsurface 19 is positioned to the rear of slot 18 in head portion 3 ofmember 1. The spacer 16, of course, may be varied in thickness or beadjustably affixed to gauge plate 12 in a known manner to increase ordecrease the depth of the bend made on the wire with relation to the topof a main runner.

The manner in which the tool of this invention is used is shown inFIGURES 2 and 3. As shown in FIG- URE 2, the recessed portion 14carrying spacer 16 is placed on the main runner 23 as shown. The wire 24is then positioned in wire-receiving slots 17 and 18 of gauge plate 12and head portion 3 of pivoted member 1. The hand holding the tool willthen depress the handles 7 and 8. This will start the bend in the wire24 by rotating the head portion 4 of pivoted member 2 around pivot stud10, bringing wire-bending portion 19 of head 4 into contact with wire 24while it is held in wire-receiving slots 17 and 18. The bend would becompleted by moving wire 24 slightly away from runner 23 and continuingto depress the handles of the tool. The position of the parts of thetool and the bent wire at the completion of the bend is as shown inFIGURES 3 and 4. As best seen in FIGURE 4, a spacer 11 is providedbetwen head portions 3 and 4 to allow room for a section of the bentportion 26 of the wire 24. Upon release of pressure on handle 6 and 7,pivoted member 2 is rotated around pivot stud 10 by means of outwardpressure of spring 22 until cut-back portion 20 on the head 4 comes torest against stop pin 21. The bent wire is then released from the tooland is inserted into hole 25 in runner 23, bent upwardly and woundaround itself.

I claim:

1. A wire-bending and gauging tool comprising a pair of pivoted levers,each lever comprising a handle portion and a head portion mounted inspaced relationship along the axis of a transverse pivot stud, spacingmeans on said stud between said levers, a gauge plate having awire-receiving slot across the width of the top edge thereof, said gaugeplate being positioned on the outer surface of the head of the first ofsaid levers, said first lever having a wire-receiving slot positioned inalignment with the slot in said gauge plate, an extended portion on saidgauge plate projecting out beyond the end of said first lever head andprovided with a recessed portion on the inner face thereof adjacent itsouter end and a spacer plate positioned therein, the second lever havinga wire-bending surface on the upper portion of the head thereof, saidwire-bending surface being positioned rearwardly out of alignment withsaid wire-receiving slots when the tool is in its open position, arecessed notch on the lower portion of said second lever head and a stoppin projecting from the inner face of said first lever head and adaptedto butt against said notched portion of said second lever to limit thetravel thereof, spring means being provided between the handle portionsof said levers to hold the tool normally in its open position.

2. A wire-bending hand tool including a point-of-bend locating gaugecomprising two pivoted lever-type members mounted on a transverse pivotstud,'spacing means positioned on said stud between said lever-typemembers, a gauge plate attached to the outer surface of and extendingout beyond the head portion of one of said levertype members, a recessedarea on the inner face of the extending portion of said gauge plate,said area being recessed in an amount calculated to properly positionthe bending elements of the tool when in use, said gauge plate beingprovided with a wire-receiving slot across the width of the top edgethereof in alignment with a similar slot in said attached pivotedmember, a wirebending surface on the other pivoted member adapted to bemoved past said slots in the gauge plate and attached pivoted member tobend a piece of wire when positioned therein.

3. In a wire-bending and gauging hand tool comprising a pair of pivotedlever-type members, each member having a handle portion and a headportion mounted in spaced relationship on a transverse pivot stud, theimprovement comprising a substantially rectangular wire holding andpositioning depth-of-bend gauge plate removably attached to the outersurface of the head portion of one of said pivoted lever-type members,said gauge plate having a portion thereof extending beyond the headportion of said attached lever-type member in a direction parallel tothe length of the tool and at right angles to the length of a wire to bebent when held by said tool, said extending portion of said gauge platehaving a rectangular recessed area extending completely across the innerface thereof adjacent its outer end, said rectangular recessed areahaving top and back wall portions disposed at right angles to each otherand adapted to be placed in contact with an object to which a wire is tobe attached, to simultaneously steady the tool, properly space the wirehorizontally away from the object and position the tool to assure propervertical location of a bend to be made in the wire with respect to anopening in the object through which the bent portion of the wire mustpass, said gauge plate and said head portion of said attached pivotedlever-type member having a continuous slot across the width of the upperedges thereof, said slot adapted to hold a Wire to be bent by awire-bending surface on the other pivoted member when said wire bendingsurface is moved into operative relationship therewith by pressing thehandle portions of said lever-type members toward each other.

References (Iited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,321,314 11/19Kelleher 121 2,386,328 10/45 Rollings.

2,485,459 10/49 Rackowski.

2,732,744 1/56 Kuchman et al.

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner. MILTON S, M EHR, Examiner.

1. A WIRE-BENDING AND GAUGING TOOL COMPRISING A PAIR OF PIVOTED LEVERS,EACH LEVER COMPRISING A HANDLE PORTION AND A HEAD PORTION MOUNTED INSPACED RELATIONSHIP ALONG THE AXIS OF A TRANSVERSE PIVOT STUD, SPACINGMEANS ON SAID STUD BETWEEN SAID LEVERS, A GAUGE PLATE HAVING AWIRE-RECEIVING SLOT ACROSS THE WIDTH OF THE TOP EDGE THEREOF, SAID GAUGEPLATE BEING POSITIONED ON THE OUTER SURFACE OF THE HEAD OF THE FIRST OFSAID LEVERS, SAID FIRST LEVER HAVING A WIRE-RECEIVING SLOT POSITIONED INALIGNMENT WITH THE SLOT IN SAID GAUGE PLATE, AN EXTENDED PORTION ON SAIDGAUGE PLATE PROJECTING OUT BEYOND THE END OF SAID FIRST LEVER HEAD ANDPROVIDED WITH A RECESSED PORTION ON THE INNER FACE THEREOF ADJACENT ITSOUTER END AND A SPACER PLATE POSITIONED THEREIN, THE SECOND LEVER HAVINGA WIRE-BENDING SURFACE, ON THE UPPER PORTION OF THE HEAD THEREOF, SAIDWIRE-BENDING SURFACE BEING POSITIONED REARWARDLY OUT OF ALIGNMENT WITHSAID WIRE-RECEIVING SLOTS WHEN THE TOOL IS IN ITS OPEN POSITION, ARECESSED NOTCH ON THE LOWER POTION OF SAID SECOND LEVER HEAD AND A STOPPIN PROJECTING FROM THE INNER FACE OF SAID FIRST LEVER HEAD AND ADAPTEDTO BUTT AGAINST SAID NOTCHED PORTION OF SAID SECOND LEVER TO LIMIT THETRAVEL THEREOF, SPRING MEANS BEING PROVIDED BETWEEN THE HANDLE PORTIONSOF SAID LEVERS TO HOLD THE TOOL NORMALLY IN ITS OPEN POSITION.